Rice students to create Rubik’s Cube mosaic of Nelson Mandela in honor of Black History Month

Rice University’s BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) building will feature a Rubik’s Cube mosaic of Nelson Mandela in honor of Black History Month (February). The mosaic, approximately 3.75 feet by 5.5 feet, will be created by members of the Rice Cube Club of the university’s Jones Graduate School of Business using 600 cube puzzles borrowed from the makers of the Rubik’s Cube.

The project will be installed in Rice Public Art’s pop-up gallery located in the BRC’s first-floor lobby at 6500 Main St.

The mosaic was the brainchild of Cory Thigpen, a Jones School MBA student and president of the Rice Cube Club. He wanted to honor the former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died Dec. 5. Thigpen is borrowing the cubes from the “You Can Do the Rubik’s Cube” website, which is run by Seven Towns, the company that owns the Rubik’s brand.

The mosaic will be assembled by up to 15 members of the club, which was organized to provide a supportive and fun environment for solving the Rubik’s Cube and other twisty puzzles.